Our Osmanthus Oolong is prepared using the ancient method, in which the tea absorbs the flower fragrance during the baking progress, producing a scented tea that’s aromatic and flavorful without using any additives or chemicals.

The osmanthus flower is a symbol of romance in Taiwanese culture, and Osmanthus Oolong is a traditional wedding tea in Taiwan. With a base of creamy Alishan Jin Xuan Oolong, Osmanthus Oolong is scented with the fragrant osmanthus flower, giving it a floral and fruity flavor. Light and bright, this tea is prized for its mellow, smooth qualities, with a subtle, lingering fruity aftertaste. Romantic indeed.

Steep Time: 2 minutes, resteep up to 4 times increasing time by 30 seconds each steeping

Review:

I owe you all an apology. I’ve been keeping something from you for months now and I shouldn’t have. I’ve been sitting on some wonderful oolong samples from Tea Ave, a new shop dealing in high quality oolongs. With my crazy travel schedule the past few months I couldn’t find the time to sit down and properly enjoy them, so I saved them for a quieter moment.

That quiet moment finally came last week when I had a lull in my travel schedule, so I’m excited to finally share the first of the samples they sent. One of the samples happened to be the osmanthus oolong I had been salivating over as I perused the various offerings on their website. Lucky me!

The first sip of tea sent me straight to heaven. It had a creamy mouthfeel and fruity flavor that reminded me of peaches covered with fresh cream. It was absolutely delicious and definitely the type of tea I find myself craving during the hot summer months.

As I steeped the tea a second, third, and even fourth time the flavor evolved from sweet and fruit flavored to mildly floral. It was almost as if I were drinking a different tea each time. With each cup I found something new to enjoy and couldn't wait to discover a new set of flavors in my cup. This was a truly excellent oolong.

My Rating: 90/100

Would I order this again? Yes. Some people think it's sacrilege to turn oolong into an iced tea, but I could see this becoming my favorite summertime tea since it has a naturally fruity flavor.

Disclosure:

In an effort to be open with my readers I want to let you know that this sample was provided to me free of charge by Tea Ave for my review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Crafted with the tea leaves from Qingxin Oolong tea trees, mixed with natural fragrance extracted from fresh osmanthus, this Osmanthus Oolong Tea has high floral scent, as well as the mellow taste of oolong tea. When brewing this tea, you will first smell the refreshing osmanthus fragrance, and then taste its flavor in the liquid in the mean time feel the sweet flavor. The aroma of osmanthus and oolong will stay in your mouth for a long time. The floral fragrance also brings richer flavor to the oolong tea.

TeaVivre does not currently provide brewing instructions using a Gaiwan.

Review:

I've only fairly recently discovered osmanthus oolong and in fact, reviewed a bottled variety for Tuesday Tea over the summer. I enjoyed it so much that I knew that I just had to include it in my latest round of samples provided to me by Angel at TeaVivre. For those of you who aren't familiar with Osmanthus, according to wiseGEEK it is a type of evergreen tree or shrub found most commonly in the temperate climates of Asia. They produce small white flowers and these flowers are commonly used in Asian cuisine as well as tea. It isn't typically found in America, however we do have a species called Osmanthus Americanus, also referred to as devilwood, that is found down south around Texas and Virginia.

My previous experience with osmanthus oolong left me craving more and I really enjoyed the notes of apple and apricot. My first steep of this tea more than met my expectations and while the flavors are somewhat different than I encountered with the last variety I tried, there was still a fruit-like aspect which appealed to my sweet tooth. Rather than apples and apricots, this tea leans more towards a peach-like flavor. It is full of sweetness, with a subtle floral aspect from the oolong.

The peach flavor was actually much more pronounced on the second steep, although by the third the sweet flavor I previously enjoyed had started to fade away and the floral aspects of the tea took the spotlight. With each subsequent steep this tea became something new and my three steeps of tea were gone quickly, leaving me yet again craving more.

Now that I've had two very favorable experiences with Osmanthus Oolong I fully intend to make it a permanent part of my cupboard. Yet again, I am left impressed with not only the quality, but unique variety of teas offered by TeaVivre.

Would I order this again? Yes! If you're looking for something just a little bit different and have a sweet tooth make sure to give this tea a try.

Disclosure:

In an effort to be open with my readers I want to let you know that this sample was provided to me free of charge by TeaVivre for my review. As always, all opinions are my own. If you are a company and would like to send me an item for review feel free to drop me an email.

What can I say other than this tea is amazing. I'm a huge fan of Oolong, but I had never heard of Osmanthus Oolong before stumbling across this last week and course this made me insanely curious when I saw it in the check out aisle in my small town grocery store. It isn't the type of product that I expected to find in a grocery store in a small farming community, but gems like this have a habit of turning up in the most unexpected places.

Now I'm sure most of you are in the same boat as I am wondering what the heck Osmanthus is. According to wiseGEEK they are a type of evergreen tree or shrub found most commonly in the temperate climates of Asia. They produce small white flowers and these flowers are commonly used in Asian cuisine as well as tea. So there we have it, they aren't typically found in America, however we do have a species called Osmanthus Americanus (devilwood) that is found down south around Texas and Virginia.

My first sip of this was very sweet, slightly tart and it tasted like apples. Now normally I hate apples, but I really enjoyed the combination of sweet and tart in this case. The more I drank the more I noticed the subtle floral flavor followed up by sweet apricot flavor. I have to admit that I liked this so much I gulped it down rather than slowly enjoying it and that makes it really hard to write about. Right now the empty bottle is just sitting here mocking me.

At $3.49 for 11.5 Fl oz it is a little pricey for a bottle of tea, however, completely worth it in my opinion for a road trip treat. Road trips in my family are all about the little splurges and trying new things. One thing to keep in mind is that this is also sold by the ounce in loose leaf form on the Tao of Tea website for $3.00 per ounce.

My Rating: 90/100

Would I order this again? I may not purchase this again bottled due to the price, but I do plan on ordering some loose leaf tea since I really enjoyed this.